From the President

Dear ,

It’s been a big year for your OSC.

In October we hosted our Founders’ Day Dinner in the Dining Hall. Our guest speaker, Professor Ken Freeman (OSC 1957) flew in from Canberra to give the after dinner speech to over 160 guests, including a large cohort from his own year group. After being Dux of his year at the College over 50 years ago, Professor Freeman has become one of Australia’s most celebrated scientists with a specialisation in astronomy. He shared some of his knowledge to us on intuition in science and dark matter in galaxies. You can view the photos from the event here.

The OSC Business Directory hosted another successful event at Besk Bar in Leederville in November. Besk is part-owned by Ben Braham (OSC 1996). Richard Gardner (OSC 2000) hosted a panel in the Besk Cellar with Ben Braham, John Cordin (OSC 2000) of Fins Seafood and Guy Lyons (OSC 2001) of Forest Hill and Lowboi Wines on trends in the food, wine and hospitality industries. It was pleasing to hear each of Ben, John and Guy already do business with each other. I thought this was a tremendous example of the strength of the Scotch community. You can see photos from the event here.

More than 125 years ago, as a result of Jane Alexander’s foresight and generosity, she advanced £500 which led to the establishment of Scotch College. The OSC commissioned a portrait of Jane Alexander which was unveiled in October and now sits front and centre in Collegians House. The portrait was painted by Archibald Prize finalist and young artist Melissa Clements. You can view photos of the unveiling of the portrait here.

It was great to see our newest members pass the baton on to next year’s Year 12s at March Out. You can view the video of the March Out 2023 here.

Terrific also to see the success of recent 2022 OSCs in the AFL draft. Dan Curtin was selected at pick 8 for the Adelaide Crows, Joe Fontio was selected at pick 44 for the GWS Giants and Coen Livingstone has been rookie listed for the West Coast Eagles. 

I wish to thank the enormous support of the OSC and Scotch College community this year.  This includes Alec O'Connell, Nadia Sierakowski who keeps the OSC running from day to day, David Kyle, Alex Aberle-Leeming (Vice-President), Jeremy Walden (Secretary), Michael Fitch (Treasurer), Michael Silbert, Alan Murray, James Hindle, Josh Ledger, Mitchell Clarke, Richard Gardner, Will Goyder, Lachie Pethick, Pete Plaisted, Banjo Harold, Ben Bartholomaeus and John Santelli.

The OSC wish you a relaxing and safe Christmas and New Year. We look forward to delivering value to you again in 2024.

Best wishes,

Aaron McDonald (2001)
President
Old Scotch Collegians Inc. 

OSC Achievements

Old Scotch Collegians News

Tartan Ties Podcast Opportunity

Tartan Ties is the Old Scotch Collegians podcast. We hope to engage the OSC community, and to produce lively, curious and wide-ranging content which relates to us, and which interests our members. It might be business, sports, current affairs, the arts, culture, adventure, achievement, or philosophy. We want to keep learning from our community, and we want to share compelling conversations and moments with you, wherever you are in the world.

There are no real rules, except one …. be interesting.

We would love you to join us as a listener or watcher, and we would love you to participate as a guest or to contribute your ideas.

We are seeking expressions of interest for an OSC, or pair of OSC’s, to host the OSC podcast, Tartan Ties, in 2024.

Tartan Ties is produced at Studio Scotch, the College’s excellent podcast studio, and made available in both audio (all major platforms including Spotify, Apple Podcasts) and video (Youtube) formats. It also goes out via the College’s/OSC social media channels.

We anticipate the release of one episode per month. All studio set up, production and post-production including editing and marketing are taken care of.

Your responsibilities will include; driving the stylistic direction of the show, finding great guests (with our help if needed) and having engaging conversations. We look forward to receiving your expressions of interest via email.

To see a sample of what we have produced so far, check out Scotch College’s You Tube channel and select the Tartan Ties playlist: https://www.youtube.com/@ScotchCollegeWA/playlists

Members Assistance Program

A reminder that 2023 saw the introduction of a Member Assistance Program for Old Scotch Collegians.

Members are entitled to four counselling sessions, and a further two sessions if required thereafter, per 12-month period (commencing from first date of attendance) with session entitlement inclusive of immediate family members (i.e., dependent children, partner/spouse) residing in the same residence.

Access Wellbeing Services can assist when personal, family or work-related issues are impacting on your mental health or quality of life by giving you a place to turn for support any time of day or night, 365 days a year.  The service is voluntary, free for you to use and completely confidential.

To book an appointment, you simply need to call 1300 667 700 and the AWS team will arrange for you speak with an experienced, professional counselor or psychologist face-to-face or over the phone and a date, location and time of your choosing. Please book all non-urgent appointments between 9am-5pm Monday and Friday and between 9am-8pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (WST).

Mentors Wanted

We are seeking expressions of interest from our network of Old Scotch Collegians, from all industries and experience levels, who wish to support the college's efforts in providing tutoring, mentoring or work experience opportunities for current and recently graduated students.

Our OSCs are often engaged as guest speakers at our events and can inspire, motivate, and share skills and experiences, whilst remaining connected and giving back to the school.

Please click this link and provide us with some details so that we can match you with appropriate opportunities as they arise.

What have you been up to?

If you graduated in 1964, 1974, 1984, 1994, 2004 or 2014, we would love to hear an update on your whereabouts for inclusion in our next Clan magazine!

A regular feature in the OSC section of the magazine, the "What Have You Been Up To" (WHYBUT) section showcases alumni who have made career moves, achievements, and life milestones (no matter how big or small) with the wider Scotch community. Complete this form and send us a photo for inclusion in the next edition.

Reunions

Thank you to the past students and teachers who joined us to celebrate milestone reunions in 2023. You can view the photo slideshows via the following links:

• Class of 1963 Sixty Year Reunion (10 Mar 2023)
• Class of 1973 Fifty Year Reunion (30 Nov 2023)
• Class of 1983 Forty Year Reunion (8 Sept 23)
• Class of 1993 Thirty Year Reunion (23 Jun 23)
• Class of 2003 Twenty Year Reunion (3 Nov 23)
• Class of 2013 Ten Year Reunion (1 Sept 23)

We look forward to welcoming next years milestone reunions back to the college in 2024. Please ensure your personal details are up to date (updates can be made here), and keep an eye on your emails for Save the Date communications and Invitations.

Upcoming Events

Old Scotch Collegians will again enjoy many opportunities to reconnect and engage with the college in 2024. We would love to see you at one of our upcoming events:

Tartan Lawyers Breakfast
Fri 23 Feb | Herbert Smith Freehills

Annual General Meeting
Tue 26 March | Venue TBC

Reporter Collection (Class of 2023)
Fri 10 May | MCB Veranda

Seniors Luncheon
Fri 24 May | Dining Hall, Scotch College

Wine Tasting
Thu 29 Aug | Old Bridge Cellars

March Out
Fri 11 Oct | Scotch Playing Fields

Founders’ Day Dinner
Fri 18 Oct | Dining Hall, Scotch College

PSA Golf Day
Fri 25 Oct | Cottesloe Golf Club

St Andrew’s Day Vale
Thu 28 Nov | Chapel, Scotch College

For more information, and booking details as they come to hand, please visit the Scotch Calendar, or contact the Alumni Office.

Scotch College News

Year 12 Exam Results

Congratulations to the Class of 2023 on a great year, we are so excited to see what you do next!

The image above features key results from our WACE and VET students, with International Baccalaureate Diploma results to be released on Tue 2 Jan. Combined results will be released on Fri 12 Jan and a full Class of 2023 brochure will be release on Fri 22 Jan.

Headmaster Contract Extension

Mr Tim Wiese (OSC 1988), Chair of Council, recently announced an extension to the term of appointment of the Headmaster, Dr Alec O’Connell.

The new appointment to the 31 Dec 2026, extends the Headmaster’s tenure to a total of 15 years, an era which has provided great stability and direction to the College.

Mr Wiese thanked the Headmaster for his dedicated service to the school to date, and our entire school community, particularly the Old Scotch Collegians for which Dr O'Connell is the Patron, looks forward to working with him in the years ahead.

World Scholar's Cup

Oliver Spurling, Oscar Ho, and Simon Pocock proudly represented Scotch College in The World Scholar’s Cup 'Tournament of Champions’ that took place at Yale University in November. The boys’ hard work and dedication paid off as they secured a commendable 16th place after competing against more than 500 teams from all over the world. ⁠
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The boys also had the incredible opportunity to explore iconic landmarks, museums, trading floors in Manhattan and Ivy League schools. They truly embraced every moment of their US experience!⁠
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Well done boys and a big shout-out to fellow Western Australian teams from John XXIII, Shenton College, and Sacred Heart who also participated in The World Scholar’s Cup.

Scotch College acknowledges the Wadjuk Noongar and Wilman Noongar people, the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which the College and our campuses stand. We pay our respect to Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge the Noongar people as the First Peoples of this place.